Netflix Sets Cast for BET Adaptation of Japanese Manga Kakegurui Series
Netflix has unveiled the ensemble cast for BET, a new live action TV adaptation of the hit Japanese manga thriller Kakegurui from showrunner Simon Barry and Boat Rocker Media.
The live action series will be led by Miku Martineau, Ayo Solanke, Eve Edwards, Clara Alexandrova, Hunter Cardinal, Anwen O’Driscoll, Aviva Mongillo and Ryan Sutherland. The English language adaptation is set around an elite boarding school where everything, including the pecking order, is determined by underground gambling.
Production has started in Toronto. The thriller series is based in part on the Japanese manga series Kakegurui, which has streamed on Netflix.
Developed, written and directed by Simon Barry (Warrior Nun), BET is the latest TV series to tap into the global popularity of Japanese anime, which in part became a borderless phenomenon thanks to streaming giants like Netflix and Sony’s anime specialty platform Crunchyroll bringing manga series to content-hungry young TV viewers during pandemic-era lockdowns.
In BET, the boarding school’s hierarchy is upturned when Yumeko, a mysterious transfer student arrives from Japan with a dark secret and a gambling prowess that puts her in the crosshairs of the powerful Student Council. Ultimately, her revenge quest threatens to upend the school’s status quo entirely.
The anime-inspired 10-episode series is executive produced by Barry, Jeff F. King, David Fortier, Ivan Schneeberg, Jon Rutherford and Nick Nantell.
The original Japanese Kakegurui series, which ran for two seasons from 2017, starred Saori Hayami, Minami Tanaka and Tatsuya Tokutake. Spinoffs of the anime property included a Japanese language live action series and a movie adaptation.
